The Holiday

Published December 26, 2018

Film info

Title The Holiday

Director Nancy Meyers

Year 2006

Run time 2hrs 18m

Genres Comedy, Romance

Tagline As one door closes another one opens

After bad bouts of man trouble just before the holidays, Amanda (Diaz) and Iris (Winslet) are desperate for a change of scene. Travelling in opposite directions (Diaz to London, Winslet to Los Angeles), each finds herself alone in an unfamiliar town, but neither remains a stranger in her new surroundings for long.

Live blog

Time

Comment

1:38

Loving Jack Black’s studio setup!

3:00

“Most love stories are about people who fall in love with each other, but what about the rest of us?”

5:23

Love Sarah Parrish! “I never realised how pathetic you are.”

13:52

I mean, cheating is bad but to make him walk on gravel in bare feet is harsh.

16:40

I wanna see the Lohan/Franco film!

17:43

“For years, I read these reviews, I buy the books but I never read them.” Sing it, sister.

22:10

This has gone very You’ve Got Mail, I like it.

29:19

No way does Iris do that commute every single day. That’s cray cray.

32:49

Now, hold on. She was watching Little Britain, which was on the BBC, which doesn’t have ads on it.

33:04

Where did the dog come from???

43:21

Well Jude Law is adorable.

52:14

“You’re lovely” is such a nice thing to say to someone.

55:30

Did she get on the plane?

59:19

Well, Kate Winslet would recognise the Oscar.

1:02:05

“In the movies, we have leading ladies and we have the best friend. You, I can tell, are a leading lady but for some reason you’re behaving like the best friend.”

1:13:26

I quite like finding yourself in the middle of dinner party that you somehow are hosting.

1:27:32

What is way past complicated?

1:28:56

Oh Arthur, wait till you see how much Netflix want to produce.

1:35:34

“Two notes, and you’ve got a villain.”

1:44:01

“I used only the good notes.” Okay, so Jack Black has won the movie.

1:53:26

Nooooo Jasper! Nooooo.

1:57:52

Gumption! What a word!

Conclusions

Really loved this! It’s one of those adorable but quirky rom-coms, where you can’t quite believe what is happening but are completely swept along for the ride. I fell in love with Jude Law a little bit, but was bowled over by the concept of Jack Black as a romantic lead - and he pulled it off!

The real hero was Arthur, though, and boy did I cry when the doors opened and everyone was cheering. My word.

My only complaint, really, is that aside from some snow and the odd wreath on a door, it doesn’t feel like a Christmas film. It could be set at any time really, and still be almost word for word the same. But that makes no odds to the overall enjoyment of a great and worthy film. Hoorah!